#1Second Hand Ghosts - The Final Bet (A Paranormal Mystery) Read Free

began to mop up the mess that I’d made.
    I decided to confide in Carol.
    “You’ve worked here a long time. Did you notice anything strange about Rose?” I asked.
    “Rose was a very strange person, what my mum used to call Bohemian. Can you be more specific?” Carol said. She slurped her tea, “Too much milk.”
    “What I meant was, did Rose ever talk to you about ghosts?” I asked hopefully.
    Carol banged her cup down onto the counter. “Don’t you talk to me about ghosts! Rose had that nonsense in her head and tried to talk to me about it. I don’t want you to be the same! There is no such thing as ghosts.”
    “Then how do you explain this?” I said and I held up my left hand. The rings that had just been locked in the safe were now on my wedding ring finger.
    Carol spluttered, “What are you playing at? How did you get those? Give them back to me.”
    “They’d just appeared on my hand,” I explained.
    I took the rings of and handed them back to Carol. She gave me a funny look and then locked the rings back in the safe.
    I held up my hand. The rings were there again. I was starting to feel frightened.
    Carol gasped, “What on earth is going on?”
    “I think we have a ghost in the shop,” I replied.
     
     

Chapter 8
     
    “Oh no! I’m not having this! You can deal with any dead people. I don’t want anything to do with it!” Carol announced. She grabbed her bag and coat and almost ran out of the shop.
    I took the rings off my finger and locked them in the safe. Again.
    I was alone in the shop.
     Or so I thought.
     My scalp felt prickly and goose bumps appeared on my arms. I felt like someone, or something, was standing behind me. I was too much of a wuss to turn around.
    “Don’t be scared, lass,” a quiet voice said. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
    I slowly turned around. What if the person behind me had died in a horrible accident and was all messed up?
    I faced the ghost.
    He was an old man in a navy cardigan.
    “Hello,” he smiled at me.
    “You’re not scary at all,” I sighed.
    “I’m as handsome in death as I was in real life. Name’s Frank, by the way.”
    He held his hand out, then laughed and put it away. “You won’t want to be shaking my hand, you don’t know where I’ve been!”
    I took a step closer to Frank. He didn’t look like he was dead. But then I noticed his eyes. Instead of being shiny and twinkly, they looked...well, dead. No life in them.
    “I’m Kate. Do you need my help? I’ve never helped a ghost before.”
    “I’ve never been dead before!” Frank chuckled. “Yes, I do need your help. Please.”
    “Is it something to do with that elderly lady who came in?” I asked.
    Frank nodded. “That was Peggy, my wife. Or widow I suppose now. Those rings she brought in?”
    “The wedding ring and heart shaped one?” I said.
    “Yes, those are her most treasured things. The moment I met her, fifty years ago, I fell in love with her. I knew I wanted to marry her so I put some money by each month so I could buy her the best rings I could find,” Frank said.
    I smiled, “That’s quite romantic.”
    “Aye, I’m romantic and handsome,” Frank winked at me. “But Peggy kept saying no when I asked her out. It took me two years of asking before she said yes, and then another two before she agreed to marry me. I had plenty of money to spend on rings by then. You should have seen her face when I showed her that heart shaped engagement ring. I’d seen her looking at it every time we went past the jeweller’s.”
    I was confused. “Then why has she brought them to us? We’re a second hand shop. Why would she want to sell them?”
    Frank frowned. “That’s what I don’t understand. Does it mean that she never loved me? That she couldn’t wait to get rid of her rings? I can’t bear the thought of Peggy not ever loving me. I thought we were happy together.”
    “What do you want me to do?” I asked.
    “Will you go and see her? Ask her why